July 15, 2018, marked the 85th anniversary of the first large-scale trans-Atlantic flight. Yet few Americans have ever heard of the event. One reason may be that Italo Balbo, a member of Benito Mussolini’s Fascist regime, spearheaded this trailblazing aerial trek.

The world is grateful that Fascism has long since been cast into the ash heap of history. However, one can acknowledge an aeronautical achievement while repudiating the repellent ideology under which it occurred. Though historians have castigated Charles Lindbergh for assorted pro-Nazi sympathies prior to Dec. 7, 1941, they still laud his solo Spirit of St. Louis journey.